After getting started on this very site, I have been checking Google for my site to see how specific I need to search for it to show up. I have a few people to compete with, worst of which is a male porn star/underwear model that shares my name and a president that shares my middle name (my grandma's second cousin, Calvin Coolidge). However, upon seeing my digital footprint, once I found me, I rediscovered a blog I did many years ago. Partly, it was nice to see and I pulled a few things from there I had forgotten to copy previously, but much of it was stuff I wanted to be deleted. What to do?

Many people think deleting the account is the way to go, but I've seen that it only makes it impossible to change the information that remains, so I decided to delete each piece individually, while keeping the account open until I couldn't find them anymore. I'm no expert in privacy, but it seems the best way to hide, aside from being a disconnected hermit, is to take on your footprint head on. This is what is wrong with information online, but we can also take advantage, by burying information with other information. Deleting works sometimes, but controlling what is out there about you by putting stuff you want out there out there works as well. When you Google my full name (without the middle name still pulls up the porn star - be warned) you get my website first and that is what I want to see. I've managed to get rid of everything else on regular searches. The real question is, how much is still out there copied on servers and in the government, and that is the real danger.

Not posting in the first place is the best way to control your footprint. Perhaps we should embrace the shift as Laura Stockman has, while always keeping eyes and minds open to possible problems with everything we post (Richardson, 2008). We should be thinking about our posts online like we think about the words that we say. We watch our words in public and around our parents, but we open up to our friends. Kids should know that online is almost always a public place and they should use words and only post information that they are comfortable with the public knowing. This is still a new technology and people are still adjusting to it, but a kid who has been taught these ideas about life can function most effectively online. Click below for tips for how to protect your digital footprint for students.

"Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see." (Martin Luther King jr.)

Woman on the Bus

A woman looks at her phone on a bus in downtown Seoul, 2015

Seoul Protest 2015

People from around 120 unions and groups organized the protests on Saturday, December 5th, that saw thousands marching through downtown Seoul. Many people carried signs that said roughly "listen to the people" as they feel the current government is not working for the people but for the Chaebol (large corporations).

Mask Dance

Thousands took to the streets to protest several government plans in Seoul on Saturday, December 5th. They were told not to wear masks because of the "threat of ISIS". The protesters responded by wearing thousands of masks, some dancing traditional samulnori along the way.

Shoulder View

Getting a better view of the traditional Korean dancing at the Bupyeong Festival, this girl sits on dad's shoulders.

Angled Emotion

A man picks up recycling in the city while a little girl pouts in the doorway behind him.

Framing the Street

Tucked into an alley in northern Seoul, graffiti hides as people walk past.

The Clown

A performer prepares to entertain children on Children's Day at Children's Grand Park in Seoul.

Yellow Dust Love

A couple gets intimate during yellow dust season in Myeongdong. "Yellow Dust" is the polluted air that drifts from the Gobi Desert, picking up coal pollution over the cities of China, to Korea.

Rock Reflection

Cape Disappointment, Washington

Launch Pad to the Universe

The Milky Way jetting up from the peaks at Colonial in the North Cascades, Washington

Watercolor Sky

The colors of sunset above Eastern Jeju Island, South Korea

The Race

Two shooting stars race across the night sky at Liberty Bell Peak, Washington

Mt. St. Helens

From Johnston Ridge

The Girl with the Mask

"Park Geun Hye resign" is written across her mask. She speaks loudly without noise in the crowd f nearly a million protesting the president of South Korea on 11/12

Monk in the Front

A million people took to the streets on 11/12 to protest the president in one of the largest protests in Korean history. Many religious leaders joined together to hold signs that read "Park Geun Hye resign"

Man with Candle

One of a million protesting the president of South Korea on 11/12, holding a candle for the vigil and marching to show his support of the president stepping down.

Helping Hands

These girls help this man light his candle as night falls over approximately a million people in the streets of downtown Seoul on 11/12.

Anti-Government DJ Spinning

A DJ spins music for the crowd of protesters on 11/12 as they march against the president of Korea.

A Family Marches

A family marches with candles during the protest on 11/12 that saw a million people spill into the streets of downtown Seoul.

Flying

Flying on the shoulders of her father, this girl had a VIP view of the million person protest against the president on 11/12

Spectacle

Overlooking the crowd in the square, a man surveys the scene. Lights, musicians, food stalls, and a million people peacefully protesting the president and chanting in waves, "Park Geun Hye resign".

Tiring Protest

A little girl yawns on her father's shoulders late into the night as they continue to march against the president.